It is well known that cameras have various settings that must be properly configured to enable the camera to take a picture having correct focus and exposure. Most cameras have a manual mode and one or more automatic modes for configuring the settings. In the manual mode, the user physically adjusts the settings based on experience and judgment, while in automatic mode, the camera automatically adjust its settings.
While automatic mode was designed to eliminate an amateur's stumbling block to more successful picture-taking, the settings are configured based on a set of relatively simple heuristics that often prove to be wrong. For example, in digital cameras, white balance may be automatically set based on a principle called “grey world” where all color pixels on the CCD are added such that the total color averages to grey. While this principle may work in many environments, it may not work in others, such as in a dark, yellow-lit room that one would encounter in a bar or museum, for instance.
Similarly, automatic focus in cameras is for the most part based two types of heuristics called “hill climbing” and “range finding”. In hill climbing, the lens is moved back and forth until the highest contrast point is detected in the center of the image, while in range finding, SONAR and infrared is used to provide a rough estimate of distance. While most automatic camera setting techniques work reasonably well, such as auto focus, camera's would take the highest quality photos possible if the need to “guess” at the conditions surrounding the subject to be photographed could be eliminated.
Accordingly, an improved method and system for configuring camera settings is needed. The present invention addresses such a need.